First things first: Safe, stable housing is the foundation of financial security for individuals and households across America and critical to economic success. Yet for too many, affordable housing remains out of reach, whether they are seeking to own or rent their homes.

Capital One is committed to being part of the solution — through research, policy leadership and public-private partnerships to deploy capital for housing development and community support. This work has solidified Capital One's position as a leading community development lender nationwide for the past six years, with financing that brings affordable housing to communities across the country.

Key numbers: Capital One made sizable commitments in its historic five-year, $265 billion Community Benefits Plan in connection to its acquisition of Discover.

Capital One's Community Benefits Plan commits:

• $44 billion for community development financing, including $35 billion in support of affordable housing for low- to moderate-income (LMI) communities and individuals.
• $600 million in lending to CDFIs.
• $575 million in philanthropic giving and capacity-building efforts.
• $15 billion in lending to small businesses in LMI communities.
• $200 billion in lending to LMI consumers to help build and repair credit, manage their financial lives and maximize economic opportunity.

As part of this effort, the Capital One Insights Center partnered with the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the Bipartisan Policy Center to survey and bring perspectives from local leaders tackling the nation's housing shortages with creative, community-driven solutions.

The details: The U.S. Conference of Mayors surveyed its members in 68 cities across 30 states and D.C., representing 20 million people. The goal was to gauge how mayors view the state of housing, understand the steps they're taking locally and learn how federal policy could shape access.

• Shena Ashley, President of the Capital One Insights Center: "At Capital One, we know that, often, the best solutions stem from public and private sector partnership. Creating more pathways for housing supply requires intentional investment and significant collaboration across both sectors, which is why we are leaning in to learn from the perspectives of mayors and their teams."

The major takeaway: Mayors across party lines are concerned about the direction of housing affordability across rural, suburban and urban cities, pointing to broader economic conditions as a contributing factor and believing that changes to federal policy and programs would significantly affect housing.

• 51.5% of mayors believe that housing affordability will worsen in their city within the next year.
• 66.2% of mayors believe that the current economic environment will worsen housing affordability in their city in the next year.
• 80.9% of mayors say that their residents are dissatisfied with the state of housing affordability.

The challenges to housing affordability

The most common challenges:

• Direct costs of housing development (materials, labor and land).
• The ability to secure the funding to develop housing (private capital, federal funding and local funding).
• Rising insurance costs and onerous regulatory burdens.

The most difficult challenge to address: Access to federal housing funding.

• "Affordable housing requires significant subsidies and there are not enough local or federal dollars available to meet the need for rehabilitation, preservation or creation," says Mayor Danene Sorace of Lancaster, PA in response to the survey.

Plus, plus, plus: Mayors anticipate potential changes to program funding and federal policy affecting the state of housing in their communities. Their concerns stem from the perceived risks of significant funding cuts and policies that could increase housing development costs.

However, despite challenges and concerns about worsening housing affordability and the economic environment, mayors are seeing an increase in both market rate and affordable housing becoming available in the next 12 months and are taking action.

The local solutions to improving housing affordability

• 66% of mayors said their ability to influence local land use policies most improve housing affordability. 44% cited their ability to influence local land use policy reforms.

• 79% of mayors engage with the private sector to provide additional resources and incentives for developers to support more housing development. They also use strategies such as tax credits, housing trust funds and land banks.
• A majority of mayors (61.8%) are developing partnerships with nonprofit organizations and mission-driven housing developers for specific communities and broader populations, and traditional partnerships with financial institutions and other governmental partners remain common.
• 91.1% of mayors utilize two or more housing programs to meet the needs of their residents.
• Nearly 30% of mayors identified direct investment in new housing construction as having the greatest impact on housing affordability. In addition to adding immediate supply, new units increase competition in the market and put downward pressure on costs.

"Arlington continues to seek partners for affordable housing. Most recently, staff are seeking to explore partnerships with large corporate partners who have a need for affordable housing for their employees," says Mayor Jim Ross of Arlington, TX in response to the survey.

The takeaway

The on-going challenge of limited access to affordable housing emphasizes the need for a collaborative effort. Addressing cost burdens and improving access to housing development funding requires sustained partnership among community leaders, lenders, local and federal government entities and non-profit organizations to effectively meet the needs of residents nationwide.

As one of the top community development lenders nationwide, Capital One strives to close the gap in affordable housing by deploying capital to create and preserve housing — often through fostering relationships with public-private partners.

Capital One is proud to partner with the U.S Conference of Mayors and the Bipartisan Policy Center to learn from the perspectives of mayors and their teams to spread and amplify actionable insights and strive to meet the needs of residents across the country. It is clear that mayors are steadfast in their efforts to find solutions, resources and pathways to increase access and opportunity to quality, affordable housing for all.

This research informs the solutions that can be applied and shared across communities. It is through these types of partnerships that real, positive change is created and individuals and families are enabled to thrive.

Read the full study here.